Merry Christmas! from our Home to Yours

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Hoping for a better week,lol

Last week was interesting, hoping this week will be Less so, ha ha.

First of all, while leaving my work Christmas dinner last week, which my daughter attended with me, I fell down out front on the sidewalk.

How did this happen, you ask? (or, you would ask that if you didn't know me, lol, and know that I'm a dork :)

I was walking, and talking, and trying to get my keys out of my purse at the same time, basically. And my left foot landed half on the sidewalk and half in the mulch next to the walkway, and Boom! down I went.I landed on my right knee and hand, which I'm happy about because that's better than landing on my face!

 Daughter April says "are you all right?" and then starts laughing before I can even answer,I'm pretty sure it looked hilarious when I went down.  She later texts her Dad, who replies "Is she all right?" and then Actually texted "As I Start Laughing". This is my family,LOL.

The second interesting thing that happened last week was ...ordering out for food.Which seems like it would be fairly simple and straightforward, doesn't it? And yet....

When I called in the order, they told me it would be about an hour for delivery. Seemed fair, I was calling right during dinner time. However, it ended up being an Hour and a Half, and it's that last half hour that provided the (later, not at the time) laughter :)

about an hour and ten minutes after I'd ordered, the delivery man calls and says he's having trouble finding our house. I describe it, and then decide to go outside and see if I can see him. I Do see him, down on a cross-street at the end of our street, driving back and forth. He's in the 700 numbers of the block and we're in the 400's, so he's Never going to find us that way. I call back to the food place and while I'm trying to explain to them how to tell their delivery guy to find me? he actually drives up at the end of our driveway!  and I am jumping up and down and waving my arms and yelling "this is the house! this is the address!" and I can Hear him thru the open window on his van tell the person at the restaurant that he 'still can't find the address"!!!!AS HE TURNS AROUND AND DRIVES OFF UP THE STREET!!...with me still in the front yard shouting, waving and jumping. (which you would think would have been hard to miss,lol,I didn't see any Other house on the block that had 'plump,screaming, jumping Grandma' out in the front yard at exactly that time)

Well, he eventually found our house, and I expressed my Extreme displeasure,and I do not foresee ever ordering from them again.

Later in the evening, when I described it briefly on Facebook, my friends and family started a comment thread about the whole thing that was pretty hilarious, and also helped me to see the funnier side of this story.

And so, that was my week last week in a nutshell....as I said, hoping this last week heading towards Christmas is a lot better! and also hoping that the week goes well for all of You :)

Reprise: Christmas Caroling Memories

Went on a YouTube search last night for my favorite Christmas Carol, God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman....and came to the conclusion that the version I found last year is still the one I like the best..which led me to decide to repost from last year my  Christmas Caroling Memories

Hope you enjoy!

(oh, and almost forgot to add the link to daughter's 2007 Church Solo  :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Comments by ZingerBug.com

Happy Thanksgiving! to all my family and friends..I'm so Thankful for each of you!

Latest Postcard Received

the latest postcard I've received using a the Postcrossing website, comes from the southern part of Brazil !

Another Postcard :)

The latest postcard I received is from the Czech Republic, very cool. I need to get some kind of album or scrapbook, to keep all these postcards in!!

How life comes around in circles..I remember years ago in Girl Scouts, I collected postcards for a specific project, and placed them in an album. Interestingly enough, I received a postcard from where I now live, which of course I had no idea at the time I would eventually live here.

But anyway, thinking that I needed something to keep my current postcards in reminded me of that old album, and I have no idea whatever happened to it .

If you like sending and receiving postcards? Remember to check out Postcrossing  !!

More Postcards

It's been awhile since I updated with pictures of postcards I've been receiving through Postcrossing
since my last posting I've gotten some from

Istanbul

Kiev

Moscow

the Netherlands
(with my fave, lighthouses :)

Tucson (yes,I decided to start getting/sending postcards from around the US,too, I had just been doing international )

(and darn, all of a sudden getting a 'glare' from the flash when taking pictures of the postcards)

and just yesterday, got one from Belgium!

thus far, I've gotten 18 postcards via Postcrossing  I should have 5 more on the way, as I've got 5 'traveling' right now. That's what I like about this, you can't receive unless you send, which makes kind of a slow start when you first begin, but once you start getting the postcards? you're hooked! Hope you've enjoyed the cards!

Flowers!..for teeth :)

The beautiful flowers my husband brought me this evening, after I had two teeth pulled today :)

(he brought me flowers after my recent surgery also, but unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of them before the cats attacked them..flowers don't last long in our house! but it's still nice to get them :)

Snow!

Well, we got our first winter storm for the year, the above pic is taken from the back deck, the neighbor's tree collapsed from the weight of snow/ice that started last night. More pictures  Here  for my non-Facebook friends and family.

Happy Birthday to .. Me :)

the best husband in the world just surprised me with a cake! :)

3 More Postcards received :)

This week, I've received 3 more postcards from around the world thru Postcrossing

                                                                          from Taiwan

Brazil

and Finland

More Postcrossing Postcards

Have received 2 from Holland

and this other very cool one from Russia today..the "World in Words", I really like that! :)

if you haven't checked out Postcrossing yet, why not do it today? this has been really fun!!

Received a Lovely Gift :)

Received a lovely Caregifting gift from my Mom,Dad, brother and sisters and their families :)
Thanks,guys! what a beautiful gift!!

Another Postcard received :)

This one from Portugal

Cool Photography Websites

From a story a few weeks ago in the Washington Post, I learned of these different websites, thought you might like to check them out, interesting :)
Looking into the past

Shorpy Historical Photo archive

My Daguerreotype Boyfriend

Awkward Family Photos

Dear Photograph

More Postcards :)

While I have been recovering from my surgery, I have received some more postcards from the Postcrossing website I joined :) 
this one was waiting for me last Sat when I got home from the hospital

this one came later in the week, I Love tulips! this was from Belgium

and this one from lower Saxony in Germany just came yesterday

have  been having so much fun, sending and receiving these!

also, have had a friend in Oregon send me two lovely postcards while I'm recuperating

Why I love the Internet :)

I'm going to be having some surgery this coming Friday the 16th, and as I emailed people today to start letting them know that I'd probably be incommunicado online for awhile....I was overwhelmed with the responses coming back saying 'we'll be praying for you", "you'll be in our thoughts", "wishing you a speedy recovery"

I know I Shouldn't have been overwhelmed, as some of these people I've 'known' online for 6 years or longer, some I've met in person even :) and I know a great many of them are 'praying' folks, and compassionate and supportive folks.

But I can't tell you how much of a relief it felt, to know that I'll be surrounded by such a 'net' of prayers and good wishes..my surgery was originally scheduled for the 29th, but because of some problems that arose with me the past few days, it got bumped up to this Friday. still a little startled by that, the doc gives you a surgery date and you plan a lot of things around that date..like I had really wanted to tell the residents on my floor that I'd be going out for a month or more of recovery after my surgery..these are folks that I care for, along with a great team of co-workers, to (I hope) the best of my ability 40 hours or more every week, and I also care About each and every one of them,too, and also care about my coworkers. I know that so many of my residents were like 'we missed you!' when I was gone for a week's vacation on the camping trip in July..
and so I just wanted to extend them that courtesy and reassurance 'hey, I'll be gone for some surgery and recovery,I'll miss you guys, but I'll be back"...

but instead, I ended up leaving work kind of quickly yesterday, and barely had a chance to say anything to Anyone..and then came to the realization today after talking to my doctor again that I wouldn't be able to make it back in to work again before the surgery on Friday.

so, that's that. Life just happens like that sometimes, and your plans get changed suddenly...  I actually think I will feel So much better After this surgery is behind me..... but it lifted my spirits so much, to know that so many caring friends and family will be keeping me in their thoughts and prayers!

Thanks, everyone :) hugs and love and hope to be back soon!!

Yay! A second postcard received!

from the Netherlands !

Yay! Received my first postcard today :)

 From Latvia ! :)

Postcrossing

My longtime online friend Guido  has been using Postcrossing for several months , and recently I was finally inspired to join myself...Postcrossing is "a project that allows anyone to receive real postcards from random places in the world".

I'm excited because the first two of the 5 recent postcards I've sent have been received, which means that my name is now in the line-up for Me to receive some postcards (you have to send to receive, in a nutshell :)

The above pic is from a Fall drive Tony and I took in 2008, and I found a great deal on Vistaprint to get my own postcards printed (I'd used them before for address labels for Soldiers Angels mail) and so the above is my postcard!

A friend of mine was inspired to join Postcrossing even before I did, from a link I posted on Facebook, and she has come up with the wonderful idea of using a website to log pics of both her 'sent' and 'received' postcards, the website is Remembering Letters and Postcards

There is also a Postcrossing Blog 

and this is the First postcard that I sent out

Newest Grandson Logan

I have been remiss in not ever posting a picture of our newest grandson, Logan Ryan, born July 22 to Dustin and Mari.

(I've posted plenty of pics on Facebook, but some of my friends aren't on Facebook, sorry it took me so long to post this here!)

We originally thought we were going to get to meet him in October, but now I'm going to be having some surgery done at the end of September, and my recovery time will use up all my available vacation/ sick time, so don't know When we'll meet him now...I know All grandmothers always say this, lol, but isn't he the most beautiful baby ever??!! (hmm, I recall saying that about first grandson, Aiden,too!)

Being a grandparent rocks !

Happy Birthday,Aiden!

Happy 5th birthday, to Aiden!! :)

Summer went by too quickly!!

and it's almost time for April to be going back to college...time flew this summer.

(and now her cousin  is also going off to college,which somehow makes me feel even older,lol, as I just came across a picture the other day, of the two of them together as toddlers.)

It's been a lovely summer,though, starting with the Memorial day picnic we had

and the camping trip in July

the birth of newest grandson Logan on July 22 (and we'll get to meet him in Oct, yay!:)

Tony finally going to a Redskins fan appreciation day!

and going on a helicopter ride at the fair last weekend!

and, of course, I knew that summer was Really winding down when oldest grandson Aiden started school last week!

We'll be having a Labor day weekend picnic, I think, to bid good-bye to summer officially..but summer, you went by Way too fast this year!

Aug.8--How Nixon's resignation led to a treasured memory for me..

I've posted about this before  ,but wanted to post it again:

The year was 1974, and I was a 14 year old on a 'primitive camping' trip with the Girl Scouts, through Camp Merrie Woode out of Plainwell,MI.

Normally I went camping At Camp Merrie Woode  but for 'primitive camping' we campers and two counselors went out to someone's farm, on their 'back 40',so to speak, and set up a camp from scratch.....yes, dug our own latrine, set up our tents, fire pit, and I remember lashing together a table of sticks to use for our meals. I also remember using some kind of tablets to treat our water that we got from a stream on the farm, which tasted 'ew',lol.

The folks who owned the farm drove out on Aug.8,1974 to tell us that the President was resigning and they wanted to bring us in to watch it on TV, as they thought it was an historical moment that we should not miss. The counselors agreed, so we all piled into the back of their truck and went in to their big old farmhouse to sit on the floor in their living room and watch Richard Nixon's resignation speech.

Indicative of a 14 year old mind,lol, I recall nothing of the speech and I'm not sure I understood at the time what a huge deal this was. All I have is a snapshot memory in my head of the President talking on the screen of a wood floor model TV (this Was '74,guys:) and I think it was a black and white TV,too.

It was what We said while we were there that led to one of my favorite memories. Someone mentioned the mosquitoes that were at our camp, and the folks who owned the farm in the next few days after that came out and sprayed around where we were camping to try and get rid of them. (what did they spray? no idea.)

Unfortunately, their good intentions went awry, and it seemed that they only managed to drive even More mosquitoes into our camp.So much so that, after getting bitten unmercifully all day, we decided to abandon our camp for the last night we were there, and take our sleeping bags out into the middle of a huge field that was nearby. (we were camping in the woods.)

Only we hardly slept. We just so happened to have chosen a night that the Perseid meteor shower was occurring (didn't know that was what it was Then, found out later.) We had set up our sleeping bags and were lying in them idly chatting, when we saw the first meteor shooting across the sky...and then another, and another.

All  these years later, every August that memory transports me back to a Michigan summer night when I unexpectedly saw the most beautiful celestial show I've ever seen, lying in a field and gazing up at a clear sky filled with heavenly fireworks.

I've never seen the meteor shower as clearly again, and maybe the magic of that memory was that it wasn't planned, it was just a happy accident that we decided to sleep in that field on that night.

But it still remains one of my most treasured memories....

Burgundy and Gold!

Anyone who knows us knows that my husband Tony is The penultimate Redskins fan :) One thing he'd always wanted to do was to attend the Washington Redskins Fan Appreciation Day   ..so yesterday, we finally Did that, and had a great time!

It was a very hot day, even though it was overcast, and I have No idea at the size of the crowd,lol ("a Lot of people" :) I tried several times to take pics of the crowd to try and give an idea of how vast the sea of 'Burgundy and Gold" was, but looking at the pictures later, unless I would have done a panorama, I don't think it captured it.

Let's just say that I overheard one Fan make the comment to another Fan as they were walking by "I'm kind of freaked out, actually, by all the burgundy and gold in one place, and I'm a fan!"

Old to young, and tall to small, the fans were all there.....one thing I've learned over the years about Redskins fans (my Uncle is Also a fan:) is that they Love their team!!

Like Tony in this pic

 they were all happy and smiling.

oh sure, I heard some of them razzing various players, and the coach, at different times(hollering at players to 'make that catch!'and yelling at Coach Shanahan"Year Two,Coach! let's see some results this year!")....but it was all done in fun, and in a lighthearted way....done in 'love of the team', I guess you'd say? lol.

We met a grandmother who was a lifelong fan, she wore the cutest 'Skins cap, and when I asked her about it? she said it was handmade.."but I need to make another one, this one got a little faded because it accidentally went through the washer and dryer, and normally I hand-wash and air dry it"...(THAT's a Fan!) 

and there were high school football players from around the area up in DC,

 there was a very friendly family who sat behind us (and had me cracking up sometimes at some of their comments I overheard as they watched the team practice)

and there were the two ladies who wandered by with sheets of paper in their hands and had downloaded a bunch of info about each of the players and were figuring out who was who out on the field, and critiquing them (that's dedication! :)

All in all, it was just a great day....like one big happy family on a giant picnic. You could strike up a conversation instantly with anyone sitting near you, because everyone was there for the same reason..they're fans, and they love their team! (or, like in my case, they love someone who loves the team, and so I guess I'm kind of a 'fan by default'? lol )

The rest of our pics are  HERE

down Memory Lane,via the Radio

there are a few songs that when I hear them on the radio, I'm instantly transported back to a specific time and place ...heard one of them coming home from work the other day, which prompted this post.

Whenever I hear either of these songs, I'm back in 1996, on the biggest vacation I ever as a single mom took my 3 kids on, to Florida for Thanksgiving that year. Both of these songs came on while I was in the middle of a 10 hour drive (which I hadn't realized would take that long!) to get to a particular Holiday Inn on the way back home, for our last night on the road....the kids and I all joined in singing along with both of these, and this memory always makes me smile ...(and,lol, I asked one of my son's before I posted this if he remembered any of this and he said 'nope', which just goes to show ya..one of my fave memories, and who else recalls it but me? :)

(and the second song, I can't embed...but here's the link to The Village People:Y.M.C.A. )

------------------

The other two songs are from when my daughter and I were traveling back to Virginia from MN in 2001, and were stuck in a traffic jam on the outskirts of Chicago. Hearing either one of these takes me back to singing along to them with my daughter...

(yes, we have eclectic music tastes, lol....everything from hip hop to bluegrass, and all points in between..except Opera)




What songs take You back ?

Random,LOL

So I wake up this morning and walk in the bathroom and don't see my hairbrush..I'm 50 years old,lol, and This is the song that immediately starts running through my head..

the other day, the folks next door had hung a small line to hang some towels on their porch..when I took the dogs out in the back yard, Riggo

startled by something new,lol, starts Barking at the laundry on their line..what a Goof!! :)

lastly..we all got new phones with our latest upgrade, and I discover what a Dork I am once again

it actually took me about TWO days to successfully start using the touchscreen, ha ha, without randomly flipping the screen to something I didn't even want..can you say 'tech-challenged'?

have a great day!

New Grandson arrived, and Happy Birthday to half the family ,lol.

New grandson arrived July 22nd, yay! No pics yet, I'll withhold details and announcements until the young family gets home and sends more info :)

and today, July 23, three in our family share a birthday (possibly I exaggerated when I said 'half the family'? nah, I would never exaggerate,lol)

so, Happy Birthday! to sister Sue, and to sons Ben and Dustin!!

Had a Great time camping :)

Had a great time camping again this year in Natural Chimneys Park

We actually ended up camping for Five days, which was a nice surprise! Tony decided to add an extra day, as the way my days off fell, he decided we'd go out a day early.

Set up the campground Weds afternoon and woke up Thursday morning to a gorgeous day and tried to capture the sun rise coming through the trees, the rest of our pictures are  HERE

While Tony and a friend went fishing at a trout farm, I stayed behind to read and also to catch up on some letter writing to the troops...was sitting on the lawn chair, with a light breeze blowing, and even though I could faintly hear bluegrass, the Grateful Dead and Iron Butterfly all at the same time from various campsite's..it was still very peaceful and quiet.

Two ladies were walking by our campsite and they said hello, and remarked on the beautiful day, and how relaxed I look and how nice our campsite looked..and as they started to walk on, one of them turned and said 'there's only one thing wrong with your campsite,though'..and I started laughing because I already knew what she was going to say 'the Redskins stuff',lol..yup, she was a Dallas fan :)

All in all, a lovely relaxing and renewing trip :)

Woot! Almost Time for Camping Again! :)

Next week is our yearly 4 day camping trip, yay! :)

Summer Blogging is Light

Because I'm spending as much time as I can here :)

Enjoy these summer days,everyone!

Planting flowers:) and..pool's open!

so, due to a sale on some plants from someone closing a small greenhouse, we are now 'planters' :)

 we started out with 5 gardenia plants and an aloe plant, and then of course had to get topsoil, according to my husband, who Has actually planted stuff before..myself? I'm known for previously killing an air fern (which is supposed to be indestructible) and then, we had to get More plants..

                                        tomato plants are in the back row..I wouldn't Know they were tomato plants, lol, except someone else told me they were. I spent my early years always finding a reason to be gone when gardeners around me got to gardening,lol.

I also got 2 hanging pots with flowers, too, for the lower deck.

and then Tony got ahold of a Michigan Bulb company catalog, so possibly I've created a monster..

April and I went to see  Bridesmaids  (which was Hilarious, by the way:) and came home to Tony saying 'um, I ordered some bulbs"..lol, and that's how it starts!!

oh, and by the way...pool's open!

we went for the first swim on Saturday!! :)